Don't die before your death

Day: June 12, 2017

An old lady stood on the other side, grey hair loose open, dark circle around the eyes that looked tired, wrinkled skin indicating that her age wouldn’t be any less than 80.

My husband and I stole glances at each other; I wasn’t keen on the idea of knocking at a stranger’s door, but the heavy rain left us with no other choice.

‘Hello Aunty.’ Said my husband.

She narrowed her eyes, remained silent.

My husband continued, ‘…it’s raining heavily outside. We don’t have a vehicle…there’s no Auto or Cab available either. Do you mind if we wait inside until the rain’s over? We don’t even have a umbre-‘

‘Come in.’ The lady cut in; she sounded irritated.

We stepped in; the interior made my jaw drop in surprise as I didn’t expect it to be so well decorated and furnished, the reason being from the outside it looked quite old, fragile and scary.

‘Can we have some water?’ My husband asked.

She went into the Kitchen and came out with two glasses in her hand; we finished the water in a gulp. She stood silently, looking us up and down.

She laughed lightly – ‘I don’t think the rain’s going to stop anytime soon. You can spend the rest of the night here.’ She paused and looking behind us at the staircase, added, ‘go upstairs…all the rooms are empty.’

I shook my head and was about to say no, when my husband pressed my hand and grinning at the lady, said, ‘Thanks Aunty, that’d be great.’

‘But…is your family okay with us staying-‘ I opened my mouth but,

the lady cut in – ‘no worries.’

Taking my hand, my husband headed towards the staircase – ‘she’s right…what if the rain doesn’t stop until morning? It’s utter foolishness to decline her offer at this moment.’ He whispered and hurried his steps up the stairs.

I nodded – ‘but…isn’t it strange that -‘

I paused as my husband opened the door to one of the rooms; it was dark. The hallway was dimly lit by a small bulb; we were standing in the middle of it now.

He stepped inside the room, looking for a switch to turn on the lights.

‘Who is it?’ We heard a sudden hoarse voice coming from inside the room.

It sent a chill down my spine; suddenly the light turned on automatically.

But the room was empty.

‘Who is it?’ The voice shouted this time, but we could see nobody inside.